As our regular readers know by now, I’m a fan of immersive audio/spatial audio, not just for movies and TV shows, but for music as well. There are thousands of new and classic music tracks out there now mixed and mastered – or remixed and remastered – in Dolby Atmos immersive surround sound. When done well, an immersive mix of a new song or immersive remix of a classic track can bring the listener right into the studio with the artist and bring a sense of immediacy to the music that is missing from most two-channel recordings.
But so far, all the major whole home music/streaming platforms (but one) have been slow to embrace immersive audio or even basic 5.1-channel surround sound. While Sonos supports Dolby Atmos music in both Apple Music and Amazon Music, other platforms like HEOS, WiiM and Bluesound have yet to offer integrated support for Dolby Atmos music.
While Bluesound’s new soundbar offering, the Bluesound Pulse Cinema ($1,499) still does not include native support for Dolby Atmos music, it does include Dolby Atmos decoding via its HDMI/eARC port, and that’s a good start. This means you can connect a video streaming box like an AppleTV or FireTV stick to your TV or use a Dolby Atmos-compatible music streaming app on your TV itself and connect your set to the Pulse Cinema’s HDMI/eARC port to play back Dolby Atmos music in all its immersive glory. You can also get Dolby Atmos sound from most of the top video streaming services, such as Netflix, AppleTV+, Disney+, HBO Max, Amazon Prime Video and more.
Beyond the Virtual
The Bluesound Pulse Cinema includes up-firing and front-firing drivers as well as support for optional rear channels and a wired or wireless subwoofer for a discrete 5.1.2-channel immersive sound set-up. While many standalone soundbars support Dolby Atmos via virtualization, our experience is that discrete immersive sound, with ceiling speakers or reflective up-firing drivers and real surround speakers in the back of the room provides a superior listening experience.
If you want to add rear channel speakers to the BlueSound Pulse Cinema, you can do so with a pair of Bluesound wireless speakers like the PULSE FLEX or PULSE M, or you can use a Bluesound PowerNode (any generation) or PowerNode Edge with a pair of passive speakers for the rear channels.
The Pulse Cinema can be mounted horizontally, if on a credenza or TV stand, or vertically, if mounted on a wall or on a TV wall-mount. This can minimize the profile in either use case. An integrated accelerometer adjusts the sound and speaker configuration to match the bar’s orientation.
Of course, the Pulse Cinema is, itself, a Bluesound zone, so it fully integrates into an existing Bluesound whole home audio system. It can even upmix stereo music tracks to virtualized surround, but if you’d prefer to listen to stereo mixes in stereo, it can do that as well.
We listened to the Pulse Cinema at CEDIA Expo and found that it offered punchy, dynamic sound that will certainly be a substantial upgrade over standard TV speakers. We look forward to checking it out soon with its companion subwoofer and a pair of wireless speakers in the rear for the full Dolby Atmos immersive experience.
Because of its flexible installation options, full integration with the BluOS streaming ecosystem and support for Dolby Atmos decoding, we’re awarding the Bluesound Pulse Cinema soundbar our “Best in Show” award for streaming soundbars at CEDIA Expo 2025.
The Bottom Line
While the new Pulse Cinema soundbar doesn’t yet support Dolby Atmos music natively in the BluOS Controller app, the ability for the soundbar to decode Dolby Atmos from connected devices is a step in the right direction. We believe it’s only a matter of time before the BluOS platform will be upgraded with native support for Dolby Atmos music giving immersive music fans like me another reason to choose this robust wireless music ecosystem over its competition.
MSRP: $1,499 (coming soon)